Insurance sector may grow 30%

The life insurance sector is expected to grow by around 30 per cent in this financial year. It had witnessed a growth of 95 per cent in the last fiscal.

The total life premium income would cross the Rs 2 lakh crore ($50 billion) mark by the end of this fiscal, compared with Rs 1.5 lakh crore ($40 billon) in the last fiscal.

The non-life segment is slated to grow by 15 per cent to Rs 29,000 crore in the same period compared with Rs 25,600 crore a year ago.

G Prabhakar, member (life), Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (Irda) said that last year's exceptional growth was due to broadening of the base following de-tariffing.

But the big base makes 100 per cent annual growth unsustainable. The challenge therefore lies in maintaining the growth momentum and 30 per cent is a commendable figure in comparison to the single-digit growth witnessed in the developed countries, said Prabhakar.

Tarun Bajaj, joint secretary, banking and insurance, ministry of finance, pointed out that the industry has shown remarkable maturity after de-tariffing.

"Both the public and the private sectors have done an admirable job without any war games. There is a healthy competition. The share of private players increased to 25 per cent in the life insurance space and 35 per cent in the non-life segment," he added.

The non-life insurance space was not expanding as expected, according to Bajaj. "The average penetration in the non-life segment hovers around 0.55-0.6 per cent of the GDP, which is very low compared to global standards," he explained. The penetration figures for the life insurance segment were around 4.8 per cent.

Private life insurance players were expecting a robust growth in premium income by end of the current fiscal.

SBI Life Insurance Company was expected to grow by 150 per cent by the end of this fiscal, registering a premium income of Rs 6,500-7000 crore.

"Our premium income was Rs 3000 crore last year. As the current trend suggests, we will reach between Rs 6500 and 7000 crore," said U S Roy, managing director and chief executive officer of SBI Life.

Another private player, Max New York Life Insurance was slated to grow by 50 per cent to 3000 crore by the end of this fiscal.

"Our total premium income was Rs 2000 crore last year, with first year premium income of Rs 1,400, and is expected to go up to around Rs 3000 crore by the end of this fiscal," said Gary R Bannett, managing director and chief executive officer of Max New York Life Insurance Company.

Similarly, Reliance Life Insurance Company, promoted by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, was eying a 200 per cent growth. "We expect our first year premium income to be around Rs 1400 crore by March 2008," said P Nandagopal, CEO of Reliance Life Insurance Company.

Gaurang Shah, managing director, Kotak Life Insurance, said that the company was expected to grow by more than 100 per cent, with a premium income of Rs 1100 crore.

HDFC Standard Life was eying a 100 per cent growth over last year's Rs 1440 crore, claimed M Suresh, general manager, sales and marketing.

The general insurance industry is poised to maintain an average growth of around 15 per cent.

"The general insurance industry has grown by 15 per cent on an average. The total premium income would be around Rs 29,000 crore by the end of this fiscal compared with Rs 25,600 crore a year ago," said V Ramasaamy, chairman and managing director of National Insurance Company.

National Insurance is aiming to expand its premium income by 9-10 per cent to Rs 4100 crore by March 2008 over last fiscal's premium income of Rs 3820 crore, Ramasaamy said.

The New India Assurance Company is expecting its premium income to grow by 8 per cent to $1.7 billion by the end of this financial year compared with $1.5 billion in the last fiscal.

Nearly 30 per cent of the company's premium income came from foreign countries, claimed chairman and managing director, B Chakrabarti. Oriental Insurance, on the other hand, was expected to grow by only 2-3 per cent this fiscal to Rs 4100 crore.

We had to pay off Rs 80-90 crore as claims for our medical insurance policies, explained M Ramadoss, chairman and managing director, Oriental Insurance Company.